On 5th December 2024, the PI (Claire Jones) and Research Associate (Kate McAllister) held their second meeting with project partners from Bladder and Bowel UK (Davina Richardson and Karen Irwin) and ERIC (Juliette Rayner, Sarah Timms and Gina Jones).
This time, the partners met in Bristol at the very impressive location of Arnos Vale Cemetery. In part, discussions again centred on various historical sources, which had been provided by the PI and Research Associate. Covering a range of themes, topics and time periods, these sources led to various discussions on habit-training and mother blaming, experience and evacuation, and on the many different devices and objects used to manage incontinence since the early nineteenth century.
The partners were particularly interested by a nineteenth century advert showing various ‘travelling conveniences’. These urinals were designed to be used by women whilst they were away from their homes, and were made of a combination of rubber and satin! Discussions centred on what these sources revealed about the strategies and devices people used to cope with incontinence in the past, particularly when outside of the home environment, but also how many were only accessible to those who could afford them, meaning that their use was likely mediated by class. Such historical context helps to better understand the challenges associated with travel and access to toilet facilities, which are still faced by many people living with urine incontinence today. The partners look forward to discussing these historical parallels further in our next meeting, as well as thinking about how they might be used to inform our project outputs.
Besides our discussions, the partners were also given a fascinating tour of Arnos Vale Cemetery, which also happens to be full of interesting links to local medical history. Not to be missed by anyone living in or visiting the Bristol area!
The project partners were also taken on a tour of Arnos Vale Cemetery.
Thankyou to Janine, our guide for the tour!